About the Organization
Our client is one of British Columbia’s largest and most diverse public-sector organizations.
The organization serves a large and diverse community across a substantial network of sites and programs and is supported by a workforce of several thousand employees.
It serves a highly diverse urban community and is committed to equity, inclusion, accountability, continuous improvement, and creating environments where people can succeed and experience a strong sense of belonging.
Its work recognizes the importance of Indigenous ways of knowing and learning and takes place on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territories of the Coast Salish peoples.
As a large public-sector employer operating within a highly unionized environment, the organization requires labour relations professionals who can provide practical, consistent, credible, and responsive advice while navigating complex employment and organizational matters.
The Leadership Opportunity
Reporting to the Director, Labour Relations, the Manager, Labour Relations will serve as the day-to-day operational leader within the organization’s Labour Relations function.
The Manager will support:
– Collective bargaining
– Collective agreement administration and interpretation
– Grievances
– Employee discipline
– Performance management
– Workplace investigations
– Employment legislation
– Broader labour relations advisory services
The role also provides leadership to Labour Relations Advisors and Coordinators while working closely with organizational leaders, unions, employees, and other stakeholders.
This is a hands-on leadership position. The successful candidate must be capable of independently managing significant labour relations matters, exercising practical judgement, and understanding when an issue should be escalated.
The Manager will also play an important role in strengthening the consistency, responsiveness, capability, and succession readiness of the Labour Relations team.
The Leadership Mandate
Operational Labour Relations Leadership
The Manager will:
– Provide day-to-day operational leadership across the Labour Relations function.
– Independently manage significant labour relations files.
– Provide practical and defensible advice to organizational leaders.
– Support the Director, Labour Relations on complex and higher-risk matters.
– Help ensure important files progress in a timely and organized manner.
– Maintain strong documentation and professional standards.
– Exercise sound judgement regarding when matters should be escalated.
Collective Agreement Administration
The successful candidate will:
– Support administration and interpretation of the organization’s collective agreements.
– Advise leaders regarding employee and labour relations obligations.
– Support collective bargaining activities.
– Assist with grievances, mediation, arbitration, and related processes.
– Promote consistency in the application of collective agreement provisions.
– Identify recurring issues and opportunities to strengthen labour relations practices.
Investigations, Discipline, and Performance Management
The Manager will provide leadership and advice concerning:
– Workplace investigations
– Employee discipline
– Performance management
– Complex employee relations matters
– Employment legislation
– Risk and documentation
– Appropriate escalation of significant issues
The successful candidate will bring calm judgement, strong analytical capability, and the ability to provide practical advice in sensitive situations.
Coaching, Mentoring, and Team Development
A major part of this mandate is strengthening capability within the Labour Relations team.
The Manager will:
– Coach and mentor Labour Relations Advisors and Coordinators.
– Create meaningful developmental opportunities.
– Help team members build confidence and judgement.
– Support exposure to progressively more complex files.
– Strengthen succession readiness.
– Encourage accountability without becoming the bottleneck for every decision.
– Build a collaborative and professionally rigorous team environment.
Consistency, Service, and Responsiveness
The organization is seeking a Manager who will help ensure labour relations advice is timely, practical, credible, consistent, responsive, and clearly communicated.
The successful candidate will bring a service-oriented mindset while maintaining sound employer judgement, responding constructively to leaders, unions, and employees without compromising professional standards or organizational accountability.
Accountability and Quality
The Manager will:
– Take ownership of assigned matters and follow through reliably.
– Maintain strong documentation standards.
– Ensure advice is clear and actionable.
– Support timely progression of files.
– Strengthen consistency across the function.
– Help build a culture of accountability and professional excellence.
What Success Will Look Like
In the First 90 Days
The successful candidate will:
– Build a strong working relationship with the Director, Labour Relations.
– Develop productive relationships with Labour Relations Advisors and Coordinators.
– Establish credibility with organizational leaders and union stakeholders.
– Develop familiarity with the organization’s collective agreements and major labour relations issues.
– Understand current workloads, recurring challenges, and operational priorities.
– Begin independently managing significant files.
– Demonstrate sound judgement regarding escalation, documentation, and risk.
Within the First Year
The Manager will:
– Be recognized as a trusted and dependable labour relations leader.
– Take meaningful ownership of day-to-day Labour Relations operations.
– Strengthen the consistency and responsiveness of advice.
– Help develop the capability and confidence of team members.
– Improve operational discipline and follow-through.
– Build strong working relationships with organizational leaders and union partners.
– Support the Director in strengthening the broader Labour Relations function.
– Contribute to succession readiness and long-term team capability.
The Leader We Are Seeking
Our client is seeking a highly credible labour relations professional who is ready to operate at a broader leadership level while remaining close to the work.
The successful candidate will demonstrate:
– Strong labour relations technical depth and sound practical judgement.
– Confidence managing significant files independently.
– Strong knowledge of collective agreements.
– Experience with grievances, discipline, investigations, and performance management.
– Credibility with leaders, unions, and employees.
– A coaching and developmental leadership style.
– Strong organizational discipline, reliable follow-through, and excellent documentation standards.
– Clear and practical communication.
– Confidence without ego, resilience, professionalism, accountability, and a growth mindset.
The ideal candidate will know how to exercise authority while remaining approachable and grounded, supporting others in developing capability rather than holding every complex matter at the management level.
Requirements
Experience & Qualifications
The successful candidate is expected to bring:
– Progressive labour relations or employee relations experience within a complex unionized environment.
– Strong experience interpreting and administering collective agreements.
– Experience with grievances, employee discipline, performance management, workplace investigations, and employment legislation.
– Practical experience providing labour relations advice to leaders and internal clients.
– Demonstrated sound judgement in sensitive employee and labour relations matters.
– Strong relationship-building capability with unions and organizational stakeholders.
– Experience coaching, mentoring, or supporting the development of other labour relations professionals.
– Strong written and verbal communication skills.
– Strong organizational and documentation capability.
– Experience within the broader public sector, K-12 or post-secondary education, healthcare, municipal government, or another complex multi-union environment will be highly relevant.
Candidates currently operating at a senior advisory level who can demonstrate clear leadership readiness are encouraged to consider the opportunity.
Location and Working Environment
The Manager, Labour Relations is based in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Candidates should expect this to be an in-person role requiring regular accessibility and connection with the Labour Relations team, organizational leaders, and stakeholders.
The position is particularly well suited to a professional who values close engagement with the work, the team, and the organization.
Compensation and Benefits
The anticipated salary range for the Manager, Labour Relations is:
$123,240 to $144,988 annually
The position also includes a competitive benefits package.
Final compensation will reflect the successful candidate’s experience, qualifications, and overall alignment with the mandate.
Why Consider This Opportunity?
For an accomplished labour relations professional, this is an opportunity to:
– Take on meaningful operational leadership within the organization’s Labour Relations function.
– Work closely with the Director, Labour Relations and senior Employee Services leadership.
– Manage complex labour relations matters with genuine autonomy.
– Support collective bargaining and administration of multiple collective agreements.
– Coach and develop Labour Relations Advisors and Coordinators.
– Strengthen succession capability within the team.
– Improve consistency, responsiveness, and operational discipline across the function.
– Build trusted relationships with organizational leaders and union partners.
– Contribute to the evolution of labour relations practices across the organization.
– Join a large public-sector organization supported by a workforce of several thousand employees.
For a strong Senior Labour Relations Advisor or experienced practitioner ready for broader leadership responsibility, the role may represent a significant progression opportunity.
Pay: $123,240.00-$144,988.00 per year
Work Location: In person
